The Good Shepherd Centre Kilkenny

The Good Shepherd Centre Kilkenny (GSCK) is located in Kilkenny city and works with homeless men, women, families and those at risk of becoming homeless, across seven counties including Kilkenny. Established in 1990, we offer emergency accommodation, transitional housing and resettlement services with the aim of returning people to sustained, independent living.

The Good Shepherd Centre Kilkenny provides emergency services, housing and homeless prevention supports and works closely with its sister organisation Tar Isteach Housing to provide longer term housing.  We share a common value structure, some shared resources and staff and operate through an MOU between both organisations.

We employ a collaborative approach to deliver our services, and partner with the following bodies to cooperatively create solutions to homelessness

• Kilkenny Local Authority
• HSE
• Addiction Services
• Kilkenny Local Mental Health Services
• Shine
• MABS
• Focus Ireland

Our Service Users

The Good Shepherd Centre Kilkenny provides services to women, men and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Service users must be over the age of 18 years and referred by the local authority.

Identified vulnerable groups to homelessness are:

• People struggling with addiction
• People with mental health issues
• People with disabilities
• The elderly
• Low-income families
• People exiting state care, hospital, or prison

Our Core Values

1. We respect all stakeholders and ensure engagement and participation when possible and/or appropriate.
    
2. We work in partnership with all stakeholders to ensure effective and expedient responses within the vision of GSCK.
    
3. We provide quality services, based on the core principles of care and empowerment.

Our Services

Hostel Accommodation in Kilkenny

Our hostel provides 38 emergency homeless beds in dedicated hostel and apartment accommodation. We provide a holistic needs assessment, brokerage, harm reduction programmes and referrals to support access to health, treatment, and housing pathways to sustain a permanent exit from homelessness.

Housing Plus Programme

We offer two kinds of support in this programme:

1. High Support Housing for people at risk of repeated homelessness due to mental health, addiction and dual diagnosis. We provide case management; healthcare supports and cleaning. We work closely with local health and community services to assist service users. We offer tenancy support to 200 households across Carlow, Laois, Kilkenny and Tipperary. These service users may be elderly, people with disabilities, families with an experience of and/or at risk of homelessness.

2. Own Front Door (Kilkenny & Carlow)
We offer 50 units of accommodation for families and single people as an alternative to hotels and hostels, through provision of a traditional housing setting. Providing holistic needs assessment, brokerage and referrals to support access to health, treatment and housing pathways to sustain a permanent exit from homelessness.

Homeless Prevention Services

We offer three projects in our homeless prevention services

1. START (Support to Home and Recovery Targets)
This programme manages 22 units of accommodation (Carlow & Kilkenny), engaging people through the recovery approach through life skill supports, and tenancy sustainment interventions for people with a mental health diagnosis, working as part of a multidisciplinary approach.

2. Homecare (Carlow & Kilkenny)
This programme manages accommodation for persons vulnerable due to a mental health diagnosis. Typically, these service users will have high needs, may experience challenges in managing a home, there may be issues with hoarding and other high-risk behaviours. These service users are often very vulnerable to losing their tenancy without supports. We provide care and case management services; healthcare supports and cleaning. We work closely in conjunction with Mental Health Multi-Disciplinary services to support this cohort of service users. 

3. Tenancy Sustainment Service (Mental Health)
We offer his programme in Carlow, Kilkenny and Tipperary and provide tenancy sustainment supports and access to GP, mental health support, also liaison with local authorities. This is a programme for approved housing body tenants at risk of homelessness.